Gameplay Feedback and Suggestions from de Demo (maybe something is fixed in the EA release)

1. Controls and Gameplay

• Controls and Input Feel: The overall controls and the quality of the gameplay feel drastically different between keyboard and mouse and controller. For example, I was extremely disappointed after playing with keyboard and mouse on the first day. On the second day, I tried a controller and the experience felt a thousand times better. The difference is too significant to ignore.
• Trait UI: Trait previews sometimes overlap the trait icons themselves, making them impossible to click.
• Combo Discovery: Figuring out how to perform combos is unnecessarily confusing. Since you don't know the names of the skills, you have to search through a huge collection of abilities, which is tedious and time-consuming. It would be much better if you could click on the name of the skill required to trigger a combo and immediately see which ability it refers to.
• Collision and Movement: Some interactions and collisions feel inconsistent and occasionally cause the character to teleport a short distance.
• Visual Clarity of Abilities: Some abilities, particularly those used by the mage, lack a clear visual identity and are difficult to see during combat.
• Vaulting and Wall Traversal: Vaulting and climbing over walls feel extremely inconsistent. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they simply don't, even when the situation seems identical.
• Stamina System: Using the same stamina resource for practically every action is a mistake, in my opinion. It doesn't feel good to play. Other games have started with similar systems and eventually changed them. Mistfall Hunters is a good example: changing the stamina system made a huge difference to the overall feel of the game, and the community response was overwhelmingly positive.
• Glider Mechanics: Using the glider from ground level, without any elevation, looks and feels extremely awkward. The character's animation and the resulting movement don't feel natural. The glider is also usable on almost flat terrain, and its controls feel mediocre overall.
• Dungeon Boss Reset: If you die during a dungeon boss fight, the boss should reset, or there should be another mechanic preventing players from simply respawning and continuing the fight. During the demo, we could repeatedly die, respawn and pick up where we left off without the boss resetting. This completely removes the challenge and sense of accomplishment.
• Dungeon Enemy Aggro: In the high-level dungeon, it is possible to skip all the trash mobs and go straight to the boss. This makes the entire route leading up to the boss feel pointless.
• Gear Upgrade System: Upgrading equipment through RNG can be extremely frustrating for Western audiences. I think alternative progression systems would be more appealing.
• Overall Difficulty: The game feels far too easy (i repeat, it's a demo so we really don't know yet), with very little challenge across the board. I'm not a hardcore player; I'm a 32-year-old with a job etc, and I'd consider myself pretty average in terms of skill. Despite that, nothing in the demo presented any real challenge. I understand that this was a demo, but the mechanics felt almost nonexistent. The supposedly very difficult dungeon took us just 15-20 minutes to complete, and we were able to skip all the trash mobs on the way to the boss.
• Targeting and Attack Direction: Targeting doesn't feel right. When you don't manually lock onto a target, the game seems to decide which enemy your attacks gravitate towards. A proper targeting reticle or a more reliable targeting system is needed, because fighting multiple players or mobs makes it almost impossible to hit the specific target you want.

2. Audio and Immersion

• Sound Effects Quality: The overall sound design feels low-quality. Mining ore, using abilities, character shouts and other sound effects often feel out of place or simply don't meet expectations. New World would be an excellent reference here. The sound of chopping down a tree, using abilities and interacting with the world was incredible, and it made the entire experience feel much more immersive.
• Background Music: During PvP, the constant, repetitive music drove me crazy. The music needs more variety and better pacing, with ambient tracks that help players feel at home in the world without becoming annoying through constant repetition. Ideally, the music should enhance the experience rather than make players wish the track would end.
• Voice Acting: Korean voice acting can be a difficult sell to Western audiences, as it may feel exaggerated or unfamiliar to players who aren't used to it. I assume English voice acting will be available by the time the game launches into Early Access, but I think this is still worth mentioning.

3. PvP

• Meaningful PvP Gameplay: PvP in the current demo doesn't feel meaningful. It's essentially a free-for-all where it's difficult to understand what's happening and there are no meaningful rewards. I know you've mentioned that experience gains will be increased for PvP in Early Access, but I'm concerned that this alone won't be enough. In many games, small XP bonuses end up making little difference, and players simply stop participating in PvP because the rewards aren't worth the risk or effort.
• Crowd Control and Counterplay: Stuns and crowd control effects in general feel far too powerful and offer very little counterplay. There needs to be some kind of escape mechanic, potentially with a cooldown, to prevent players from being locked down with no way to respond. For example: The longsword stun should be interrupted by the next hit. Being stunned for five seconds without being able to do anything is far too punishing. All this applies to all similar ccs etc. I think that we need something to break the CCs with CD.
• Structured PvP Modes: Looking ahead, battlegrounds and arenas are essential for creating a structured PvP experience. These modes can attract and retain a large player base. New World is a good example: players loved the Outpost Rush (OPR) battleground mode and the Capture the Flag mode, and these activities gave many people a reason to log in every day.
• Safe Zones and Altars: It makes no sense that you can be fighting another player, only for them to run to an altar and become completely safe. Some players literally run straight to these points whenever they're losing, making them impossible to catch. This undermines the entire PvP experience.
• PvP Risk vs. Reward: There is an urgent need to make participating in PvP more rewarding and less punishing. Right now, the risks seem to outweigh the benefits.
• PvP Party System: Players absolutely need to be able to form parties for PvP. Group play should be a core part of the experience, not an afterthought.
• Targeting in Group Fights: As mentioned earlier, the current targeting and attack magnetism make it extremely difficult to fight multiple players at once. Attacks simply don't go where you want them to unless you manually lock onto the intended target.

4. Others

• Crafting Interactions: VERY PERSONAL OPINION: The crafting system feels underutilized. For example, crafting ten potions can take a considerable amount of time, during which you're just sitting there watching the screen. A small minigame or some other interactive mechanic could make crafting more engaging than simply waiting for a progress bar to finish.
• Party Finder: The game needs the usual systems for encouraging players to group up with strangers, such as a party finder or group matchmaking tool. These are essential features for an online multiplayer game.
• PvP Game Modes: I would strongly recommend adding structured PvP modes, including 3v3 and 5v5 arenas, battlegrounds and Capture the Flag. These would give players clear goals and reasons to keep coming back.

5. UI and Combat Readability

• Party Invitations: The current method for inviting players to a party is unnecessarily difficult and needs to be simplified.
• Buffs, Debuffs and Cooldowns: It's extremely difficult to tell what's happening during combat. Buffs, debuffs, cooldowns and the effects that trigger combos need to be much easier to identify. Players should be able to understand the state of combat at a glance.

CRITICAL ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED ASAP (that wasn't mentioned in the last video)

• Visual Gear Progression: When you obtain an equipment item, you should unlock its corresponding appearance and have it applied automatically. Getting a better item, a new helmet or any other piece of gear without seeing any visual change on your character is genuinely disheartening. Equipment upgrades should be visually rewarding. Simply applying the appearance of the gear you equip would solve this problem.
• Dungeons: Enemy Aggro and Skipping Mobs: Dungeon progression needs to be addressed. Players shouldn't be able to bypass every enemy and go straight to the boss, as this makes the dungeon's layout and encounters feel pointless.
• Dungeons: Boss Reset Mechanics: Boss fights must reset appropriately when players die. During the demo, parties could keep fighting after respawning as long as someone remained engaged with the boss. This removes virtually all the challenge and undermines the entire experience.
• Improved Party System: Grouping up and playing together should be straightforward and intuitive, not a tedious process that requires players to rely on commands, as was the case in the demo.
• Sound Design Quality: The current sound design significantly hurts immersion. Improving the quality and consistency of sound effects should be a high priority, as audio plays a major role in making the world feel believable and combat feel satisfying.
• Low Hp Effects: When you are low HP you can barely see nothing.